Murderers of Fiore
by BittersweetSonata
Summary: Lucy was a girl who spent most of her time on Tumblr or reading. Natsu was the mysterious guy who showed up at her school after she decoded some peculiar Tumblr posts. Throw in some secret agents and a double homicide, assassins, and a conspiracy plot, and you've got yourself a love story for the ages.


**credit: **Got the title from a Percy Jackson story (I don't read the books and I hear the movies suck, but I saw it by accident the other day and yeah, cool name). It's called 'Murderers of America.' Sounds cooler than 'Murderers of Fiore', but eh.

**setting: **This is very obviously AU. I made it up.

**pairing(s): **NaLu (main, they are my OTP), Gruvia (because they are my second Fairy Tail OTP and if you don't think they belong together how could you), GaLe (those two are so cute okay), Jerza (I adore them), and maybe a few others. Shall I do StingxYukino, or RoguexYukino?

**notes: **So I had this idea about Lucy being one of those girls who is an introvert (like yours truly) and spends most of her time reading and on Tumblr and stuff. And I love Tumblr. It always cheers me up, except for when it doesn't. You know, those people who have to go and post sad fandom stuff. Lookin' at you, Sherlockians and Supernatural fans who only make our pain worse. But anyway, I was going to just make it where she was a normal girl and Natsu was this popular guy and hey! Modern Cinderella story with Tumblr and introverts. And then I was watching Batman Begins the other night and I was like, "No, I want action." So...yeah. It turned into this thing with secret agents, action, romance, forbidden love (you'll see what I'm talking about), coded Tumblr posts left by a dying victim, and super top secret missions.

And explosions.

Love me some explosions.

**other: **I really wish Ellie Goulding would stop popping up while I'm listening to Pandora. It was okay for a time, but after five months, I think it's enough.

**disclaimer: **I own jack, only the plot and idea.

Starting Point – Login

* * *

.

"_You can't." _

_._

* * *

There are two types of people in the world. Some may argue that there are more, but when it all comes down to it – when we get back to basics – there are only two.

One, the socialites.

And two, the introverts.

Lucy Heartfilia falls under that second category. The class that would rather curl up with a book or stay home alone rather than going out and partying until the cows come home. The ones that become uncomfortable around large groups of people. The ones who are smart but quiet.

The ones who are ignored by socialites because of their lack of social qualities.

Funny thing was, Lucy used to be considered a socialite. She was the only daughter of one of the biggest business tycoons in Fiore, and so she had to show it. Now, the perky blonde wasn't exactly someone who liked to flaunt her status and money, but as it goes, she'd been required to attend fancy parties, galas, dinners, and the like.

And while she was standing uncomfortably chatting away with some stuck-up, snobby, wealthy person in a frilly and fancy dress that wasn't comfortable or her style, there was always somewhere else she'd rather be.

In her room, or her father's library, curled up with a thick book or her laptop.

Now, just because she was more of an introvert than a social teenage girl, did not mean that Lucy Heartfilia holed up in her room all day with her laptop and a stack of books as tall as her ceiling. Most of the time. She was, in fact, a very amiable person with great qualities and characteristics. She was very intelligent – right up there with the nerdy kids, and her GPA was almost a 4.0, she was pretty – beautiful was more like it, she was literate, she loved to read, she had a perky personality and her smile and laugh could light up any room, and she was actually quite friendly. She was quirky and funny when she wanted to be as well.

The problem was, Lucy Heartfilia was not happy at her father's mansion.

Her beloved mother had passed away from an illness when she was just a little girl, and Jude Heartfilia had just never recovered. He became cold and uncaring toward Lucy. She had almost everything she could ask for, except for the one thing she really wanted.

A father who loved her and was willing to spend time with her.

Unfortunately, it seemed that her only wish in life was never to be granted. And after years upon years of heaving to deal with going to parties and galas and dressing up in a persona that simply was not _her_, Lucy Heartfilia ran away from home.

She wouldn't have done it, truthfully, if her father had been more kind and compassionate about the matter. All she ever wanted in life was for someone to see her as _Lucy_ – not the daughter of a millionaire conglomerate. She didn't want to be stereotyped and clumped together with all the 'spoiled-rotten rich kids', because that wasn't _her. _

Jude Heartfilia, however, would have none of it.

And so, late one night, after everyone was asleep, the sixteen-year-old had stuffed some of her most precious belongings – as well as some clothes and other necessities – into her backpack, along with some money she'd had stashed away, and high-tailed it out of there in the middle of the night.

She climbed down her balcony on the third story and dropped down onto the perfect green lawn like some secret agent out of a James Bond movie, before disappearing into the shadows and slinking away off the property. The great thing about being at home so much, was that you learned the night guards' schedule and how they worked. It didn't matter how old she was or that she was almost a grown woman, when she snuck out of the mansion and off the grounds, she felt like a super spy and it was awesome.

Not that she'd ever admit that out loud, of course.

After climbing over the tall metal fence somewhere at the edge of the property, and landing in an almost-heap on the ground, she was up and running. For a girl who had never exercised much since she'd become a teenager, she found that she was really in pretty good shape.

Of course, that _almost_ 4.0 GPA told her that she was just feeling the effects of adrenaline. But somewhere, deep down, Lucy liked to think it was because she was heading towards her _freedom. _Freedom to do what she wanted, to become what she wanted, to be who she wanted to be.

And so, after arriving at a bus station that was amazingly still open at two in the morning, after she'd paid her fare and was seated beside a snoring and drooling overweight man, she decided.

'_If you want to hide something, then hide it in plain sight.' _Her mother's voice echoed in her ears. They had been playing a game of hide-and-seek one day, and when Layla Heartfilia had spoken those words, her little blonde daughter really took them to heart.

From that moment forward, she was no longer Lucy Heartfilia – the daughter of the cold-hearted owner of Heartfilia Concerns, but Lucy Ashley – a spunky girl who could take care of herself and live on her own.

That is, if she could manage to evade child services until she turned eighteen.

* * *

_A year later… _

* * *

"You know, I don't see how those are shorts." Levy McGarden – Lucy's best friend since she'd moved to Magnolia – stated, gesturing to the cutoff shorts hanging on the rack. "They look like jean underwear."

Juvia Lockser – another one of the blonde's friends – nodded in agreement. "Juvia agrees. They're…" she blushed, "quite short."

Lucy chuckled and held up a blue knee-length skirt. "Here you go, Juvia. I think this is the type of thing you're looking for."

The blunette eagerly took the skirt from her friend and smiled widely. "Thank you, Lucy!"

The blonde held up her hands and nodded. "It's what I do."

Her two friends laughed, and the taller one wandered over to a dressing room. Lucy and Levy continued to browse the racks as they waited for their friend.

"So," began Levy, as she pulled a saffron dress off one of the racks, "have you heard from Erza today?"

Lucy shook her head. "No, but I thought she was supposed to meet us here."

Levy shrugged. "Maybe she got caught up in something. I still think she would have at least called one of us, though."

The blonde was about to respond when Juvia came out of the dressing room. Her two friends gave her wide smiles and Lucy flashed her a thumbs-up. "Nice, Juvia!" the blonde girl approved. "Hey, any _particular _reason you suddenly wanted to go shopping?"

Levy caught on and grinned slyly. "Yeah, don't you normally dislike large groups of people?"

The cornflower-haired girl turned a pretty pink as Icona Pop blasted through the speakers of Forever21. "Well, J-Juvia just…Juvia was just…"

Lucy tapped her cheek and leaned on her struggling friend's shoulder. "It wouldn't happen to have anything to do with a certain dark-haired, cool as ice guy, would it?"

The girl blanched and the blonde panicked. "No wait! Juvia I was kidding! H-hey, don't faint!"

* * *

Lucy smiled to herself as she looked at her laptop's wallpaper. It was a picture of her three friends and herself taken at the beach. They were all smiling and honestly, it had been one of the happiest moments of Lucy's life. The blonde clicked on her Internet browser and waited for it to bring up the page.

After a long day of shopping for Juvia and even finding a few new things for herself, Lucy had decided that she needed some down time. Otherwise known as logging onto to Tumblr, completing artist requests, working on her novel, reading, etc.

Writing was Lucy's passion. She'd always loved books, and she'd always had a way with words; it was her dream to be a novelist. And now, ever since she'd become Lucy Ashley, she had been chasing that dream.

The blonde smiled to herself softly as she listened to the rain against the window pane. She brought her warm mug of tea to her lips as she clicked on one of her favorites. Within a minute, Google Chrome had brought up Tumblr, and she was logging in.

_celestial-mage-xX _

Little did she know what she was getting herself into.

* * *

**end notes: **So, we have: a missing Erza - who hasn't called, texted, nothing; a runaway girl and with a secret identity (sort of), Juvia's (not-so-secret) crush, and Lucy's Tumblr account. _What, _I wonder, will happen next? You'll just have to keep reading to find out. ;)


End file.
